Navigation Icon On Galaxy S3 Disappeared [How To Fix]

If you do, then you’re probably one of the owners who received an update for the Maps app. While the problem is not common, many were actually reporting that they couldn’t locate that blue arrow they often used for navigation.

The fact is, we have received many email messages asking us how to bring back that blue arrow. Here is one email from our reader that describes the problem well:

Hi guys,

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you can assist.

My navigation has disappeared from my phone, a Galaxy S3. A friend of mine told me hers had disappeared and I thought perhaps she’d done something wrong but it looks like its gone from mine too..

Any ideas on what’s happening?

The blue arrow is nowhere to be located on my phone and I can’t understand why.

I live in the UK and I’ve had my phone 9 months.

I really hope you can shed some light on this.

By the way your drippler app is incredible! ….

Regards

Martine

Root Of The Problem

No, the navigation icon didn’t just disappear. If you’ve recently updated the Maps app, you could expect this problem to happen. In fact, the Galaxy S3 units were not just the ones hit by this issue but all Android phones.

Navigation has always been a part of the Maps app; basically, it’s one app with two icons. Recent updates, however, removed the Navigation icon because it is now deeply integrated into the main application. So, when you applied the new update for Maps, the Navigation was also updated but its icon was removed.

Bringing Navigation Icon Back

There are two ways you can bring back the Navigation icon, in case you’re used to using it. The first would be to uninstall the Maps app.

Tap the Menu key from the home screen.

Tap Settings.

Touch More tab.

Tap Application Manager.

Swipe left to choose All tab.

Scroll to and tap Maps.

Tap the Uninstall button.

The second way to bring the blue arrow back is to uninstall the recent Maps update.

Tap the Menu key from the home screen.

Tap Settings.

Touch More tab.

Tap Application Manager.

Swipe left to choose All tab.

Scroll to and tap Maps.

Tap Uninstall Updates button.

That’s easy, right? But there’s a catch. The icon now looks a bit bigger with the Navigation app having totally different interface… again, that’s part of the update.

These two procedures are temporary fixes, obviously. The permanent solution is to accept that the Navigation icon doesn’t exist but it does not mean you can’t use it anymore. As I said earlier, it is now deeply integrated into the main app.

Using Navigation Inside Maps

Here’s how you could use that same old Navigation application.

Launch Maps.

Search for your destination.

Tap the car icon.

Tap the card for directions.

Tap the blue arrow for voice directions.

Unless you could learn to use the new application, you would always find it difficult to get over the disappearance of the Navigation icon on Galaxy S3.

Email Us Your Problems

We are open to your problems or concerns so feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any. However, please be detailed when describing your problems as much as possible so that we would know where to start. We may not be able to respond to every email we receive but rest assured we do read them… yes, all of them even if some do look like spams.

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